


Exiles and Ivories

by EmperorHaruhi



Category: Catherine (Video Game), Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Rin Ending, Angel meets Angel, Exiles bond over shitty bosses, M/M, Multi, Rin True Ending, Rin is actually an angel, Spoilers for Catherine, Vincent gets scared by everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22810594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorHaruhi/pseuds/EmperorHaruhi
Summary: Rin's tour as the Pianist of Happiness takes him to London, where he discovers he's not the only non-human still on Earth, and Aziraphale and Crowley try and figure out what to make of Vincent, the human who fell in love with an Angel.(Alternate Rin True ending)
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Vincent Brooks/Rin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	Exiles and Ivories

**Author's Note:**

> Story begins with an alternate Rin True ending, taking place just after Vincent defeats the Archangel.
> 
> Rin goes by female pronouns as the Pianist of Happiness, but male pronouns among friends, and doesn't mind either.

“Impossible! This cannot stand!” screamed the Archangel, as the floors shook.

Vincent clutched Rin’s hand tighter and stared into the giant, cold golden eyes, each twice the size of him alone, determination and fear and excitement warring within him as the Archangel began to glow, brighter and brighter.

He threw up an arm to shield his face as the Archangel screamed, and suddenly the white light was engulfing them both in a rush of noise and heat. Vincent felt himself falling as the platform turned to dust beneath them…

He woke to the sound of the Stray Sheep’s squeaking fan, Rin’s head on his chest and his legs squished at an awkward angle underneath the booth. “We’re back!” he yawned, stretching his cramped and sore limbs.

He felt Rin nod next to him. “We did it.”

Vincent laughed in relief. “Yeah. Now we’re free to be together…AHHH!” He jumped as he spotted the two men sitting across from them.

One was short and balding, with a round face. He positively radiated smugness, even when sitting. The other was tall and broad, with greying hair and a square jaw. He had the air of a man who gave orders, and expected those orders to be followed immediately. At the moment, his bright violet eyes were boring into Vincent’s with a glare that suggested he would very much like to do unpleasant things to him.

“Big brothers...you’ll accept our decision now, right?” Rin asked, and Vincent’s jaw dropped.

“Those are your brothers? But what about that giant...thing...” he made a gesture upwards, trying to connect the giant silver and gold robot with the two middle-aged men now in front of him.

“A formal appearance, for when we grace you _humans_ with our presence.” sniffed the tall man. “You couldn’t possibly endure seeing our true forms, and these corporations simply don’t have the correct effect on you.” He waved at himself, vaguely.

 _You got that right…_ thought Vincent, _If I saw these two on the street I’d peg them as nagging, mid-level bosses and nothing more._

“Vincent, these are two of my big brothers. Sandalphon and Gabriel.” Rin pointed to the balding man and the taller man in turn. “They sent me down to earth to fulfill a mission. But I lost my memory when I was sent down. That’s who I was running from, the day we met. I didn’t remember them and got frightened.”

“After the _complete failure_ of our last earth-assigned angel, we figured a different approach was in order. Now this one has failed, as well. You humans just have to go and ruin everything!” Gabriel rubbed his temples.

“Hey!” Vincent objected, slamming the table. He backed off, however, as Sandalphon cracked his knuckles threateningly. It sounded like two slabs of stone colliding. “Whoa, okay! Fine!” He held up his hands in surrender.

“Six thousand years of planning down the drain twice!” Gabriel muttered. “If we couldn’t start the war, we could at least hope to get all the human souls to our side. Your music was supposed to output enough of our miracles to render those demons and their vile work useless.”

“Demons? You mean Catherine and Boss?” Vincent asked.

“Among others.” Sandalphon said.

“Look, I don’t care what your problem is with them. All I care about right now is Rin. A deal’s a deal, right? You won’t do anything else to stop us?” Vincent took Rin’s hand where it lay on the table.

Gabriel sighed. “Are you absolutely sure?” He pleaded, staring at Rin. “You’d choose this _human_ over the divine plan? Over the chance to defeat Hell?”

Rin nodded in determination. “Yes. I choose Vincent.”

“Fine then!” Gabriel’s tone was icy, and he stood up suddenly, startling them all. Sandalphon scrambled to join him. “As for you, _Dumuzid_...” he turned his attention to Boss, who had been cowering behind the bar, trying not to draw attention to himself.

Boss let out an undignified squeak, and covered his head.

Gabriel sneered at the pathetic figure of the old man on the floor. “He wouldn’t be worth the miracle. Let’s go, Sandalphon.” As the two figures vanished in a flash, Vincent heard a faint shout of “This is going to cause so much paperwork!”

**SIX MONTHS LATER, IN A COTTAGE IN THE SOUTH DOWNS…**

“...Pianist of Happiness. I’ve heard her music is simply miraculous. Not literally, of course, but they say it has the power to change your life. She’s coming to the Royal Albert this weekend.”

Crowley’s concentration was broken as a newspaper clipping was shoved in front of his mobile screen. “Angel, what...” he groaned as the phone gave a series of descending beeps. “Was at level 63 on that!”

“You haven’t been listening to a word I said.” Aziraphale sniffed, pulling the clipping back.

“Yes I have! Pianist. Life-changing. Royal Albert.” Crowley turned back to his phone as the game restarted. With a flourish, he miracled two tickets from behind his head. “Fifth row, close enough to appreciate the music but not so close that you have to strain your neck.”

“Thank you, my dear.” Aziraphale beamed.

“Yeah, yeah.” Crowley retorted, but his cheeks were pink.

* * *

Rin peered out from behind the thick curtain of the backstage area, squinting against the bright lights at the thousands of people settling into their seats and flipping through programs. He smiled as he felt Vincent come up and wrap his arms around him from behind.

“I like this new dress on you. You’ll do wonderful, as always.” He kissed the top of Rin’s head as Rin turned in his arms to hug him back.

“Thank you, Vincent. I’m not worried though. Just excited. This is my biggest crowd so far. I can’t wait to see the happiness my music brings them.” He grinned up at Vincent as a harried stage manager waved to indicate it was time to take the stage.

As Rin walked out onto the stage to light applause, he nearly stumbled as he sensed another inhuman presence. _My big brothers are here!_ _N_ _o, wait, this feels different. It’s not them._

He bowed, taking a moment to scan the crowd. As he swept over the front rows, he caught the eyes of a white-haired man in an old-fashioned suit, and froze. _That’s him!_ _Another angel?_ _And there’s someone else…_ The red-haired man in the dark suit and glasses sitting one seat over was clenching his jaw, and Rin winced as he felt him. _A demon! But he’s sitting right beside an angel, and they’re not fighting or anything…_ Rin took his seat, hands poised to play. _When_ _this is over, I need to talk to those two!_

As the opening strains of the Moonlight Sonata echoed throughout the hall, Aziraphale turned to Crowley. “Not human.” he whispered, face white.

Crowley shook his hands off the seat’s armrests, where they had grabbed the wood so tightly that the ends were now splinters. “Not human.” he agreed.

They locked eyes and whispered together in dread: “An angel.”

* * *

As the concert neared its end, Crowley fidgeted in his seat, trying to figure out why something about the pianist’s music felt so...familiar.

Aziraphale saw him shifting, and raised his eyebrows in question.

“Got the strangest case of deja-vu. Or something. Can’t explain it.” Crowley muttered.

“We have seen several other pianists perform here, although I don’t remember any being nearly as young. Or being an angel, for that matter.”  
  
“Nah, not that. ‘S the music. Reminds me of...” Crowley frowned. “Blankets? A gramophone. Something involving my jacket. That Cabernet we had last night?”

“The one you spilled on the bedroom rug when you insisted you could do a one-handed cartwheel?”

“Turned out all right, you just miracled it all...back...” Crowley nearly shot out of his seat as it all clicked. “Miracles!”

“You know as well as I do that I can’t simply miracle another angel away.”

“No, no, that’s the deja-vu feeling! It feels like your miracles do. Sort of. Hard to explain. Like they’ve been diluted or something.”

Aziraphale’s eyes widened as he caught on. “Angels can’t affect each other with their miracles. So I wouldn’t feel anything.”

“Right!”

They both started at the sound of hundreds of humans taking to their feet in thunderous applause. The pianist had finished, and was bowing to the various corners of the hall. They hastily rose to their own feet, clapping along in order to not raise suspicion.

“I’ll meet with her alone.” Aziraphale muttered as the pianist walked off-stage.

“Like Heaven you will.” Crowley growled.

“Exactly. _Heaven_ thinks I’m untouchable. But there are other ways to hurt demons aside from holy water. She’d attack you on-sight.”

“We do this together, Aziraphale. I’m not leaving you to face those bastards alone.” Crowley lowered his glasses just enough to stare directly into Aziraphale’s eyes as he took his hand. “Not again.”

Aziraphale softened as he covered Crowley’s hand with his own. “Wily old serpent. But I go in first. You stay behind me until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“Deal.” Crowley grinned.

* * *

Vincent strode forward as Rin practically ran backstage. “Your best concert yet! They’ll be begging us to come back next year, just you wait. I talked with...”

“Vincent!” Rin interrupted him, urgently. “Something’s wrong. There’s another angel here, and he’s not one of my brothers. And he was sitting next to a demon!”

A chill ran down Vincent’s spine as his muscles tensed, and suddenly he was back at the top of the tower, muscles straining as he grabbed for Rin’s hand with all his strength, Catherine’s mocking laughter echoing as she pulled Rin away, into the darkness…

He shook his head vigorously. _Focus! Now’s not the time for that!_ “An angel sitting next to a demon? Did you get a good look at them? What were they doing?”

“That’s the strangest part. They were watching me play. I know they recognized me as an angel, but they just….sat there. The entire concert. When I left the stage they were clapping just like the others.”

“Have you heard from your brothers at all lately?”

“No, not since I chose you over them.”

“Erica says Boss is still running the Stray Sheep, and nobody’s been having any of those nightmares. So what could they possibly want?”

“To talk to you, for starters.” Came a voice from behind them.

Vincent whirled, putting himself between Rin and the voice, but froze when he came face-to-face with the stranger. A middle-aged, white haired man in an old-fashioned suit and bowtie was not exactly the threat he had expected. He shifted his weight, taking up a fighting stance. _Appearances can be deceiving!_ He reminded himself. _Boss turned out to be a demon, and he didn’t look much different._ Lurking in the shadows behind the first man was another, a slim redhead in a black suit and sunglasses that looked like they cost more than Vincent’s entire wardrobe. _Two on one isn’t good, but if I can hold them off long enough for Rin to get away..._

Aziraphale and Crowley, for their part, were baffled as they stared at the lanky, shaggy-haired human. _He’s protecting him? A human, trying to protect an angel? What’s going on here?_

Rin peered out from behind Vincent. “You’re also an angel?” he asked, in a hushed voice.

Aziraphale stepped forward slightly. “Aziraphale, former Principality of the eastern gate. I...don’t recognize you.”

“My real name is _@+*+?¥$_.” Rin said, stepping forward, “But everyone calls me Rin. I don’t recognize you either. You weren’t in Heaven with my brothers and sisters.”

Aziraphale winced slightly at that. “Yes. I suppose that would explain why we don’t know each other. I...erm...left.”

“Oh, I left too! Big brother Gabriel got upset when I chose Vincent over their mission.”

Aziraphale blinked, rapidly. “I think we have rather a lot to catch each other up on.” He gestured to the door of Rin’s dressing room, which opened on it’s own.

The room was small, and made smaller by the sheer amount of objects crammed into it. A truly baffling number of trinkets, toys and flowers were scattered across the floor, and Vincent moved several of them out of their path with a murmured apology. The counter in front of the mirrors was covered in discarded dresses, and case holding a collection of sparkling silver jewelry sat half-opened, it’s contents winking in the vanity lights.

As they all awkwardly sat down on a pair of sagging corduroy sofas, Crowley caught Vincent staring at him. “What?” he asked, irritably.

“Oh, sorry. Just haven’t had good experiences with men in sunglasses.” Vincent laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

“Suppose now the secret’s out, I don’t need ‘em.” Crowley shrugged, pulling them off and tucking them into his jacket.

There was a loud clatter as Vincent shot off the sofa, knocking over a side table in the process. “A-another d-d-emon!”

Rin tiled his head in confusion. “I did say the angel was sitting next to a demon, Vincent...”

Vincent coughed awkwardly and slowly sat back down as Crowley raised an eyebrow, yellow eyes flashing in amusement. “Right. Sorry.”

“Crowley, formerly of Hell. Don’t worry, I left the bastards behind too.” He grinned. “Got kicked out on purpose, really. Both of us.”

“You got kicked out of Heaven and Hell...on purpose?”

“It’s all rather complicated.” Aziraphale fiddled with a button on his jacket. “We stopped Armageddon. Tampered with the divine plan. Well, influenced the Antichrist to stop Armageddon. Indirectly, I suppose, since he wasn’t really the Antichrist. And the _divine_ plan wasn’t the same as the _ineffable_ plan. Which may or may not exist. The point is – Armageddon didn’t happen. They weren’t too pleased with us after that.”

Rin suddenly sat forward. “Then you were the reason I was created!”

“Wait, created?” Crowley and Aziraphale exchanged a look. “Thought...you know...” the demon raised a finger at the ceiling, “...was the only one who could do that.”

“I don’t really know how it happened. My first memory is waking up in Heaven with all my brothers and sisters standing around me. They all looked really tired. They gave me my name and told me I was created to help them win over the humans, because some great plan had been sabotaged. They must have been talking about you!”

“For a while, all they did was ask me to do things I couldn’t do.” Rin continued. “Change things, or make things, like they could.”

“Like this?” Aziraphale snapped, and a box of chocolates appeared in his hand. Crowley went next, changing the sofas from their drab brown corduroy to a soft black leather.

Vincent nearly shot out of his seat again. “How – how did you do that?”

“Miracles.” Crowley shrugged, taking a chocolate from the box.

Vincent cautiously took a proffered piece of chocolate from Aziraphale and poked at it a few times before biting into it. His eyes widened. “ ‘S really good.” he muttered around a mouthful of ganache.

“When I couldn’t do what they asked, they left me alone to wander around Heaven, without telling me anything more. I was sad about that.” Rin dropped his head, and Vincent hastily put down the chocolate to wrap a comforting arm around Rin’s shoulders. “But then I heard the piano for the first time. I think one of my sisters was watching a human play. It was the most wonderful sound I’d ever heard – it made me feel so happy!”

Rin brightened. “My brothers and sisters found me listening and humming along, and gave me my own piano. I tried for so long to copy the music I had heard, and every time I got better, my brothers and sisters got happier. They gave me more songs to learn and rewarded me with gifts when I got them right.”

“Because you can’t do traditional miracles. You make them through music instead.” Aziraphale muttered, hands over his mouth. “Extraordinary.”

Rin nodded. “They gave me my mission, then. That I was supposed to go down to earth and stop the demons from getting people’s souls. Make them have a change of heart, and turn them towards good instead. But something went wrong when they sent me down. I lost all my memories. So my brothers came down to try and fix it, but since I didn’t remember them, I was frightened and ran away. That’s how I met Vincent.”

“His music saved me in the nightmares.” Vincent grinned, threading his arm around Rin’s waist. “Saved me from Catherine, and Thomas Mutton...”  
  
Crowley startled them all by howling with laughter. “Wait, wait, you don’t mean Dumuzid? That old sheep? Oh man! Last time I saw him he was terrorizing these guys with dreams of magic squares! I didn’t know he’d moved on to exploiting the succubi.”

“Well, they were cubes, really...” Vincent muttered, and Crowley froze for a moment before doubling over in even greater mirth.

“You? You defeated wool-breath’s Cathedral? Oh what I wouldn’t give to have seen that! I hope you sent him running with his fluffy tail between his legs!”

Vincent grinned. “Heh, it was pretty spectacular.”

Crowley wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. “So, you push around Dumuzid’s boxes, send him packing with help from your angel’s magic keyboard and whatnot, bam, sappy ending, you go on to play magic concerts to, what, just spread general gaiety – pun intended – throughout the land?”

“Not quite.” Vincent scratched his head again. “I had to fight Rin’s big brothers, too.”

“You fought Gabriel and won?” Aziraphale jumped, spilling the remainder of his chocolates onto the floor.

“Not directly! He had me do the same kind of stuff Mutton had been. Except with a lot more lasers. Sure looked a lot different, too. All giant and silver and gold. When I beat his last tower he – they – turned into two people. Gabriel and...uh...Sandal? Asked Rin if he was sure he wanted to stay. Then they disappeared. We haven’t seen them since.”

“Sandalphon.” Aziraphale frowned and looked between Vincent and Rin in confusion. “They just let you go, after all that?”

Rin nodded. “Sometimes I miss my brothers and sisters. But I like being on earth more! I can still bring people happiness through my music. And I get to stay with Vincent.” He smiled and leaned into Vincent’s side, who kissed the top of Rin’s head in return.

Crowley made a fake gagging noise at the display, grinning as Aziraphale swatted his arm in reproach.

“But wait, what about you two?” Rin asked suddenly. “You told us why you left Heaven and Hell, but why were you working together? You’re an angel and a demon. I know I’d never work with Dumuzid, or Catherine, or Ishtar...”

“Bit of a long one, that.” Crowley sighed, stretching an arm along the back of the sofa. “Short version is, we figured it was a waste of time going around just thwarting each other, so we made an Arrangement to split the work. Spend a few millennia down here, y’can’t help becoming rather fond of earth, and all the bits that come with it.”

“And after spending a few millennia around each other, well, earth wasn’t the only thing we became fond of.” Aziraphale leaned back into Crowley’s side, each of them turning a faint pink.

Rin clapped in delight. “You fell in love!”

Crowley shot forward, waving his hands, face bright red. “Jeez! Don’t go shouting it to the world!” Behind his back, Aziraphale winked, which sent Rin into a fit of giggles.

“I think it’s sweet!” He protested, over the sounds of Crowley’s spluttering. “I never thought an angel and a demon could fall in love. I’m happy for you two!”

“And we’re thrilled for you too, my dear.” Aziraphale smiled warmly.

“Yeah! Here’s to sticking it to downstairs and upstairs too. Wankers, the lot of them.” Crowley raised his hand in a mock toast, which quickly became a real one as a glass of wine appeared in everyone’s hands.

Vincent and Rin jumped at the sudden appearance of the alcohol, but joined in the toast before taking cautious sips. “Phew! That’s the full-bodied stuff! Even on my manager’s salary I couldn’t afford this.” Vincent gave the demon a sly glance. “Any interest in joining the tour? We could use a caterer...”

Crowley barked out a laugh. “No deal. Angel and I got a good thing goin’ on our own. We’ll leave the magic piano tour to you two.”

“Do keep in touch, however!” Aziraphale insisted. “Whenever you find yourself nearby, we’d love it if you’d come visit.”

“Yes!” Rin agreed enthusiastically, as Vincent fished a business card out of his jacket, writing some numbers on it before handing it to Crowley. “You two must have the most wonderful stories about earth. I still haven’t seen so much of it! Its why I’m so excited for this world tour.”

Crowley waved his hand, and Vincent pulled out his phone as it beeped. A new contact had been added to his list, the number an incomprehensible smudge. “Right, now that’s all sorted, we’re off.”

“So soon?” Rin pouted, as they all stood.

“Dinner reservations. We’ll have to re-miracle them -” Aziraphale pulled a pocket watch from his inside pocket and winced. “- we’re at the last seating as it is.”

As Rin stepped forward to give Aziraphale a hug, Crowley leaned in towards Vincent. “You watch out for yours. Angels are stronger than you think. Keep him happy. They’re at their best when they’re happy.”

“I know. And I will. You can count on that.” Vincent stuck out his hand. Crowley took it, and the two locked eyes for a moment, both mentally daring the other to let go.

The handshake was broken when Rin enthusiastically grabbed Crowley around the waist in a hug, and the demon jerked back in outrage, arms whirling in an attempt to dislodge the giggling angel.

Vincent turned at the sound of Aziraphale’s soft chuckle beside him. The other angel took his hand, gripping it gently with both of his own. “Rin’s simply marvelous. You both are, to have overcome so much together. I wish you a lifetime of happiness.”

He felt a faint tingling in his fingers as Aziraphale pulled away, and shook out his hand, frowning in confusion. The angel simply smiled back at him before moving to gently dislodge Rin from Crowley’s flailing limbs.

The pair waved as they left, Rin’s dressing room door closing behind them. As they strode out into the dark London streets, Aziraphale threaded his arm through Crowley’s. “Well. That certainly was not what I was expecting would happen this evening.”

Crowley snorted, pulling his sunglasses out from his jacket. “Got that right.” He raised an eyebrow before slipping them back on. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that miracle you performed at the end there.”

Aziraphale shrugged primly. “A little encouragement for them, if you will. To ensure their future is a happy one.”

“Old softy, you are.”

“You wouldn’t have me any other way.”

Crowley just grinned, covering Aziraphale’s hand with his own, as behind them, faintly, the sound of a piano’s melody drifted through the night.


End file.
